N A V I G A T I O N 1 0 1

GRADE: 9 LESSON: 1

THEME: GETTING ACQUAINTED

LESSON GOALS:

• Get acquainted with the students in your advisory group and help them get to know each other.
• Help students understand the purpose of the advisory program.
• Help students understand the purpose of keeping a portfolio and start their high school portfolios.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

• Why advisory?
• Why portfolios?

MATERIALS NEEDED:

• Portfolio Handout (next page of this lesson plan – one copy for each student)
• 9^th Grade Portfolio Checklist (follows portfolio handout – students should keep in portfolios)
• Portfolio Supplies (from your lead advisor, based on your school’s format)

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES:

1. Get acquainted. Introduce yourself to the students in your advisory group. Welcome them to your school and let them know that they will be meeting together in the same advisory group until they graduate.
2. Explain the role of advisories. Explain that Navigation 101 advisories will help students make plans for life after high school and help them get more involved and do better while they’re in school. Explain that your students will stay with the same advisory group through graduation, and explain advisory logistics, such as schedule.
3. Explain portfolios. Distribute copies of the Portfolio Handout and use it to review how students will use their portfolios during high school. Help students start setting up their portfolios. Distribute the 9^th Grade Portfolio Checklist to keep in their portfolios.
4. Discuss grading and accountability.
5. Place 8^th grade grades into portfolio.
6. Begin the Colors Test and accompanying activities.

STUDENT PRODUCTS:

• Portfolio. Each student should begin organizing a high school portfolio.

PORTFOLIO HANDOUT – GR 9

WHAT IS A PORTFOLIO?

Your portfolio will be your record of the next four years. By the time you graduate, it will include:

• Samples of your work (your best work and work that shows how you have improved)
• Grades, test results, four-year plan, and transcripts
• Your self-assessments about how you’re doing and how you can improve academically
• Career goals and postsecondary plans
• High School & Beyond Plan (required to graduate in Washington State)
• A financial plan for your future
• A record of your jobs, internships, or volunteer service, and
• Honors or awards you’ve received.

HOW WILL YOU USE YOUR PORTFOLIO?

· To organize important information, especially work that you’re proud of. Your portfolio will be the place you store that History paper you got an ‘A’ on, a photo of your final shop project, a CD with a music composition, or an award certificate. By storing these important documents in your portfolio, you’ll have them available when you need them.

· To market yourself. You’ll want the information you’ve stored in your portfolio when you’re applying for a job, an internship, or to college. For any of these, you may need to show what you’ve accomplished. You’ll also use your portfolio for your student-led conference each year and for your culminating presentation during senior year.

· To help you plan for the future. The information in your portfolio will help you track how you’re doing in school, and that will help you set goals for courses, for how you can improve academically, and for what you want to do after graduation.

HOW WILL YOU ORGANIZE YOUR PORTFOLIO?

You’ll organize your portfolio into three sections: Academic, Career, and Personal & Social Development. You’ll be given a checklist of what information should go into each section each year.

HOW DO YOU GET STARTED?

Your advisor will explain how your school will keep portfolios and what supplies you’ll need. You’ll probably have the opportunity to design a personalized cover for your portfolio. It should express your personality and dreams. It might include photos or drawings of your friends, hobbies, or goals, and you can create it by hand or on the computer… but it must be appropriate for school.

PORTFOLIO CHECKLIST – GR 9

Name _____________________________

You should add the following materials to your portfolio this year. Please KEEP THIS CHECKLIST IN YOUR PORTFOLIO and check off each item as you add it.

ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT:

o Academic Goals: Your goal statement from 9^th grade.

o High School & Beyond Plan. Your 9^th grade draft of the OSPI HS & Beyond Plan.

o Four-year Plan: Your four-year course plan from 9^th grade.

o Historical Grades: Your grades and credits from 9^th grade.

o Academic Inventory: The plan you prepare in 9^th grade.

o Citizenship/Career Goal Sheet: Getting involved in school.

o Planning an SLC Worksheet: SLC planning.

o Work Samples: Work samples (at least one from each of your core courses):

o Science

o Social Studies

o Math

o Language Arts

Optional:

o Foreign Language

o Other Elective: _____________________

CAREER DEVELOPMENT:

o Career Worksheet: Your completed worksheet on your career interests and pathway.

o Career Information Interview Handout: Your worksheets on your career interview.

o Resume. Your 9^th grade resume.

PERSONAL & SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT:

o Other Activity Information: Work samples, certificates of accomplishment, awards, photos, or other mementos from extracurricular activities you participated in during 9^th grade.

o Activities Log